malibu43

FC Cargo's got a good point. If TK stops updating the SF engine it doesn't mean we all have to uninstall it. If we know TK doesn't want to take the game the direction we want it, it would probably be better that it's left alone. I think about patching when I add mods right now. I think about patching when I decide what mods to make. Maybe a stable game version will encourage folks to (or give them the time to) dig deep under the hood again.

I hear ya. I just wish I had time for any learning curve at all right now. I have been keeping my eyes on FC3 (or at least the threads about it). DCS A-10C world and graphics with FC2 avionics... hmmmmm....

I agree with others that SF Tuna has an unfinished feel to it and doesn't seem worth $30 to me. The thing ist hat the stuff that feels unfinished to me aren't new features that I sas looking for - its all stuff thats been in the previous titles that should have been easy to include (more campaigns, more mission types and target areas, better Hawkey voice overs). Obviously the new terrain is a disappointment as well. As far as I'm concerned, modders have been providing the content for this series for a while, and TK has been providing and updating the engine. However its been clear the last couple of years that that is not how TK sees it or wants it to be moving forward. This is shown both by his locking out previously moddable features, his disinterest in expanding on the capabilities of the engine, and interest in possibly even making the game even easier (no key press required to lower tail hook). So it would seem that as far as this community is concerned, TK may not have much to interest us moving forward. @ Spinners - I just did the same thing, looking to LOMAC/FC2 as an alternative. I also still think SF2 meets my needs better, but you should make sure to try the Flaming Cliffs 2 addon with LOMAC. It's a huge improvement and makes the competition much closer. Certainly not as much diversity though, and not as good graphically if you use Stary's stuff in SF2.

File Name: SF2V Air and Ground War Expansion Pack v1.0 File Submitter: malibu43 File Submitted: 25 Jun 2009 File Updated: 27 Jul 2009 File Category: SF Series Add On Missions and Campaigns "Strike Fighters 2: Vietnam Air and Ground War Expansion Pack" Strike Fighters 2 Vietnam Game Ehancement Package. Works with Strike Fighters 2 Vietnam. by malibu43 (mostly just a compilation of other people's great work) V1.0 7.16.09 ------------------------------------------------------------------ What's in this readme: 1.credits 2.what's inside + quick summary 3.installation 4.Known Issues 5.legal stuff 1. Credits: CA_Stary for Green Hell 2 Brian32 for tiles Effects KillerBee's SF2 weps pack (which are from Bunyap, which I think are from Dueces...) Widesky by Cellinsky A-1J/H cockpit by Wrench F-111A: FastCargo, Dave USAFMTL, Jat81500, Wpnssgt, Mirage Factory, MJ, NormanKnight Infantry by Kesselbrut D-20 by Wrench/Pasko FireCan, KS-12, and S-60 by the ODS Team 57mm effect by Fubar512 M-47, CBU-25, SUU11B, OV-10 Tank, LAU-32 from KillerBee's SF2 Weps pack GreenHell2 and Widesky SF2 fixes by C5 Modified SAM Trail Effect by Fubar512 TeTeT for the original modifed vietnamSEA types and targets .ini's F-105G Updated for SF2 by Storm F-105G skin By USAFMTL MBB-57G By MigBuster MKI SaniFlush By FastCargo rescaled Green Hell 2 trees by banimal Additional terrain, ground object, and weapons tweaks by eburger68 SA-7L from Pasko's "SAMs and Vehicles Pak: Euro Skins" WoV Sampans by Tannethal 2. What's inside: This is intended to be an overall enhancement to the SF2 Vietnam experience without having to hunt for, download, and install some of the "must have" mods for the game. -Two new campaigns that are centered around fighting in South Vietnam -Green Hell 2 -Brian32's Tiles -Widesky Environment Mod -Flyable A-1H/J, A-6A, and F-111A w/ weapons and loadouts where neccessary -F-105G, Flyable B-57B, B-57G 3. Installation: Install and Patch Strike Fighters 2 Vietnam. Run the game once. Simply drop the contents of the "Add to SF2V MOD Folder" into your Strike Fighters 2 Vietnam mod folder (NOT the folder that the game installs to). For me, on XP, the folder is: C:\Documents and Settings\Gregg\My Documents\ThirdWire Download the FOTI A-6A from here: http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?autoc...p;showfile=5014 Copy the "cockpit" folder from the .rar file and drop it into the A-6A aircraft folder in your SF2Vietnam mod directory. 4.Known Issues Default CAS loadout for A-1's should include CBU-25's on the outer wing stations, but the AI doesn't know how to use that weapon. So, load them onto your own aircraft, but don't load them on AI! 5.Legal stuff: I have signed onto the freeware "list" on combatace.com. As such, the work here can be included or used in other mods as along as they aren't payware and credit is given to the creator(s). Thanks, Malibu43 Changes from Beta: -Changed Easter Offensive Campaign so campaign starts in March and N.V. is on the offensive -Changed Steel Tiger campaign so that player should get more CAS missions during offesnsives -Added Wrench's A-1 pit -Corrected error in F-4J loadout.ini file -Corrected sound for the 57mm explosions -Removed F-100's from Rolling Thunder Campaign -Added F-105G -Added B-57B and B-57G -Some other small misc fixes Click here to download this file

A-10 madness

I'm not asking how to extract or how to change the settings that are in HUDDATA.ini, I'm asking what changes you've made. This question is probably more specifically directed at those that prefer a more "realistic" flying/fighting experience. I've been toying lately with buying FC2. IMHO, SF2 is superior in FC2 in so many ways (I have tried FC2 before). Number of flyable aircraft, terrains/theaters, graphics (with the latest mods), repla-ability, performance, etc... There's just one thing about SF2 that has been bugging me lately, and that's the ability to play SF2 without all the visual aids in the "HUD". I've found that with the red box and red cone turned on, a dog fight quickly turns into "press E, trun in direction of arrow, engage target in red box, repeat." However, due to the draw distances used in SF2, it seems like playing without the visual aids is probably a litte too hard (note that I didn't say unrealistic). I find it nearly impossible to spot an enemy, even ones that are incredibly close. Even when frequently checking the map. Even when using the heck out of Red Crown. It's not just dogfights, either. I tried an armed recon mission in an A-10 last night, and was circling at 2000' AGL right over the top of the vehicle column, zoom in, staring at the ground for a few orbits not able to see anything, before I finally used alt-d to turn the red box back on. The trucks were right where I was staring; they just weren't really visible. The best solution, I think, would be something like IL-2, where a small icon of some sort (type, distance, whatever) appears over the target when you should be able to see them in real life, which I think is a good way to overcome the limitations of computer monitors but still relying on the player for some situational awareness and target selection/tracking. So right now I still have: - my aircraft speed and altitude. I think in real life it's easier to quickly check a gage or instrument than it is in the game, so I think this is fair. - red box, but I've made it a little smaller - everything else is turned off I have other versions of my huddata.ini that have the red box removed (for a really challenging experience), or the cone added back, or the cone with the target info added back (just radar removed). I like that in the version I have right now, I still have to use TrackIR to find my target and I don't have it's type, heading, and speed all spelled out for me. But I don't like the fact that I only can see that one target. When I scan the skies, I don't know if it's just him, or if there's 7 more just as close (or closer) that just don't happen to have a red box around them. One option would be to keep the hud stuff on, and fly with alt-d cycled to remove all of it. Then I can turn it back on mid flight if I really need it. But again, that seems kinda like cheating if my intention from the start is to fly with it off. So what do some of you use? Just looking for suggestion or ideas here. Maybe there's something I don't think would work that well or that I haven't thought of, but you've tried it and it does work well!

Yeah. I can try that. I still wouldn't have anything control over the colors or the distance at which the labels draw, though. I can try just adding some entries in HUDDATA.ini to see if they have any effect, but it would be a lot of guess work...

Thanks. I'm very happy with these results. The "target box" is almost impossible to pick up against the ground or a darker background (cockpit) unless you really know where to look. However, when against something lighter like the sky, it's much more easy to pick up. Like Brian32 pointed out, those are the ONLY options to tweak with the labels. Just font size and which labels appear. No option to change color, draw distance, or change the text into a dot or anything. So, unless TK unlocks something else somewhere (which isn't likely to happen given that is locking stuff up these days), the labels are a dead end.

BBBRRRRAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPP!

File Name: SF2 AAA Pack File Submitter: malibu43 File Submitted: 12 July 2011 File Updated: 08 May 2012 File Category: SF2 Series Add On Objects SF2 AAA Pack. This is a small stand alone pack that will increase the quantity and deadliness of small AAA and Flak. This mod is based on files from the SF2V Air and Ground Expansion Pack and NF4+. This pack can be used with any SF2 install To install: Just drag and drop the folders to your mod folder. Enjoy! Malibu43 Click here to download this file

Thanks Dave! Hopefully I didn't screw it up with the changes I just made! Folks - give the new mod a try for a while and let me know what you think. You should see a little less KS-12 and KS-19 and a little more ZSU-23.

I like this: [Display001] DisplayType=DIRECTOR ObjectType=TARGET_ENEMY ConeSize=25 BoxSize=1 //10 BoxType=SQUARE BoxColor=0.0,0.0,0.0,0.25 //1.0,0.0,0.0,0.75 //ConeModelName=redcone Where is he? (HUD is turned off with alt-D) (alt-D) There he is!

OK. The pack has been updated without the air burst for the ZU-23. I have also removed the Mobile_AAA versions of the KS-12 and KS-19 so you get more of the deadlier "Mobile_AAA" ground objects. If you want to update your installation, delete the following folders before dragging and dropping all the new files in: Objects/Guns/23MM_ZU23T Objects/GroundObjects/KS-12_G Objects/GroundObjects/KS-19_G Objects/GroundObjects/KS-19_P

I'm running everything but SF2NA merged at the April 2012 patch level. I have Stary's Germany CE tiles and trees installed, but no changes to my _targets.ini 3 times in the last 2 days I've started a generated Armed Recon mission in an A-10A (nation = USAF), clicked "fly", and once the mission's loaded I'm presented with blue sky and whitish horizon and nothing else. No plane. No ground. No cockpit. Can't cycle views or anything. I exit out of the mission, select "refly", and check the map. The start and end waypoints are somewhere down past the bottom left corner and aren't displayed. If I go back to the single mission screen and try a new mission, I don't have the issue. Waypoints and map are just as they should be. Is this a known issue? I know I've seen some posts about this, but I thought most of them were USN or carrier related...

That makes sense. I was wondering about that when different internet sources said the rounds had a self destruct fuse. ie - was it a fuse intended to be used to detonate the round near the aircraft, or a fuse intended to destroy the round if it misses its target? It sounds like you're saying it was the latter. I'm going to leave the download as-is for now, rather than keep changing it. Maybe more folks will chime with some info to help point me in the right direction. After a few days, if we have it figured out, I'll make sure the download is updated with the right info.

OK. My source has helped me confirm that the 23mm guns can produce flak clouds, so I have updated the download once again to add the 23mm flak back in.

Well, I looked through the .cat's and some .ini's and .str files and couldn't find anything about the labels, so I don't know where to go next on that one. However, I was going to go from a small, red box to a small black dot. I thought this would be nice since, it would be a little harder to see if marking a ground target, and, since it's black instead of red, would better represent the silouette of an aircraft in the sky. One question though - what do the four values represent in "boxcolor="? I'm assuming the first 3 are red, green, and blue. So black would be 0,0,0. But what is the last value? Most of the entries in HUDDATA.ini use 0.75. Is that some sort of brightness or transparency?

Folks, I have updated this download with a few changes: - add two effects files that were missing (thanks, gerwin!). - increase the ZSU-23's availability to "COMMON" so it hopefully will show up a little more - changed the ZU-23 so that it does not have self-detonating rounds (ie - doesn't create flak clouds). I spent some time researching the last one, and couldn't find anything conclusive about whether the gun was a "flak" type gun or not. Various sources do list it as using "self detonating" or "self destructing" rounds, but all descriptions of the gun and even some youtube videos did not indicate that the shells would burst around an aircraft creating puffy, white clouds the way my previous version did (which was, honestly, a change I didn't realize was included in the pack). Therefore, it has been turned back into a regular cannon style AAA piece that just fires green tracers at you as you speed by, laughing and flipping the bird at it!

From huddata.ini: ...[infoDisplay] //BackgroundImage=TextBackground.tga BottomLeftPosition=0.01,0.985 BottomRightPosition=2,1 //0.99,0.985 DisplayWidth=0.20 VerticalBorder=0.0015 HorizontalBorder=0.008 EnemyTargetColor=1.0,0.0,0.0,1.0 FriendlyTargetColor=0.0,0.0,1.0,1.0 UnknownTargetColor=1.0,1.0,0.0,1.0 WaypointColor=1.0,1.0,1.0,1.0 TextFile=HUDText.str <---------- ????? NormalColor=1.0,1.0,1.0,1.0 WarningColor1=1.0,1.0,0.0,1.0 WarningColor2=1.0,0.0,0.0,1.0 AGLAltStart=609.6 AGLAltWarning=152.4 EnglishUnitUseMPH=FALSE ScaleTextToFit=TRUE ... I'm not at home so I can't try to find HUDText.str, but maybe it has some of the labels stuff in it...

Hey, now that's a great idea. Anyone know what files that stuffs in? What distance to labels show up at? Is it "infinity"? If it's limited at all, this could be a great solution.